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Company Plans to Report XMT-1536 Dose Escalation Data in the Second Quarter of 2019
Ended 2018 with $70 Million in Cash
Further Strengthened Balance Sheet with Gross Proceeds of $98 Million from Equity Financing; Expected to Fund the Company Through Important Clinical Milestones
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRSN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing a pipeline of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting cancers in areas of high unmet medical need, today reported financial results and a business update for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018.
“In 2018 we made significant progress with XMT-1536, our first-in-class ADC candidate targeting NaPi2b. We remain encouraged by the safety, tolerability, and early signs of activity seen in heavily pretreated, unselected patients in the dose escalation trial. Within the second quarter of 2019 we plan to report data from the dose escalation portion of the study, select a go forward dose and initiate the Phase 1 expansion cohorts,” said Anna Protopapas, President and CEO of Mersana Therapeutics. “More recently, we strengthened our balance sheet through an equity financing that provides us with the capital necessary to advance XMT-1536 and our potential next ADC candidate through to important future value inflection points.”
Recent Highlights and Updates
Clinical Program
Discovery & Platform Progress
Corporate Updates
Upcoming Events
2018 Financial Results
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2018, were $70.1 million, compared to $125.2 million as of December 31, 2017.
Fourth Quarter 2018
Full Year 2018
2019 Financial Update
Conference Call
Mersana Therapeutics will host a conference call and webcast at 8:00 a.m. ET on March 8, 2019 to report financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 and provide certain business updates. To access the call, please dial 877-303-9226 (domestic) or 409-981-0870 (international) and provide the Conference ID 1969536. A live webcast of the presentation will be available on the Investors & Media section of the Mersana website at www.mersana.com.
About XMT-1536
XMT-1536 is a Dolaflexin ADC targeting the sodium-dependent phosphate transport protein (NaPi2b) and is comprised of an average of 10-15 DolaLock payload molecules conjugated to XMT-1535, a proprietary humanized anti-NaPi2b antibody. NaPi2b is an antigen highly expressed in the majority of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) adenocarcinoma and ovarian cancer. XMT-1536 is in Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with tumors expressing NaPi2b, including ovarian cancer, NSCLC adenocarcinoma and other cancers. More information on the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial can be found at clinicaltrials.gov.
About Mersana Therapeutics
Mersana Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its differentiated and proprietary ADC platforms to develop highly targeted drugs with increased tolerability and expanded opportunities to deliver meaningful clinical benefit to patients. Mersana’s lead product candidate, XMT-1536, is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with tumors expressing NaPi2b, including ovarian cancer, NSCLC adenocarcinoma, and other cancers. In addition, multiple partners are using Mersana’s platform to advance their ADC pipelines.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts and are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company’s business strategy and the design, progression and timing of its clinical trials. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements represent management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. The Company’s operations involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside its control, and any one of which, or combination of which, could materially affect its results of operations and whether the forward-looking statements ultimately prove to be correct. Factors that may materially affect the Company’s results of operations and whether these forward-looking statements prove to be correct include, among other things, that preclinical testing may not be predictive of the results or success of ongoing or later preclinical or clinical trials, that the development of the Company’s product candidates and new platforms will take longer and/or cost more than planned and that the identification of new product candidates will take longer than planned, as well as those listed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 28, 2018, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 13, 2018, and subsequent SEC filings. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.
Selected Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet Data
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
December 31,
2018 |
December 31,
2017 |
||||
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities | $ | 70,131 | $ | 125,216 | |
Working capital (1) | 4,880 | 85,662 | |||
Total assets | 78,502 | 130,715 | |||
Total stockholders' equity | 8,795 | 69,994 | |||
(1) The Company defines working capital as current assets less current liabilities. See the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements for further detail regarding its current assets and current liabilities. |
Mersana Therapeutics, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)
Three months ended | Year ended | ||||||||||||||
December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||||||||||
Collaboration revenue | $ | 1,188 | $ | 3,261 | $ | 10,594 | $ | 17,545 | |||||||
Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||
Research and development | 19,816 | 14,555 | 59,915 | 46,700 | |||||||||||
General and administrative | 4,152 | 3,057 | 16,334 | 10,462 | |||||||||||
Total operating expenses | 23,968 | 17,612 | 76,249 | 57,162 | |||||||||||
Other income | 349 | 383 | 1,398 | 910 | |||||||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | (22,431 | ) | $ | (13,968 | ) | $ | (64,257 | ) | $ | (38,707 | ) | |||
Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders — basic and diluted | $ | (0.97 | ) | $ | (0.61 | ) | $ | (2.79 | ) | (3.22 | ) | ||||
Weighted-average number of common shares used in net loss per share attributable to common stockholders — basic and diluted | 23,184,459 | 22,750,425 | 23,032,250 | 12,022,733 |
Contact:
Investor & Media Contact
Sarah Carmody, 617-844-8577
scarmody@mersana.com